Thursday, 26 November 2015

Current Affairs November 26, 2015

Constitution Day (India)

Constitution
Day in India is celebrated on 26 November. It marks the anniversary of the
adoption of the Constitution of India constitution by the Constituent
Assembly of India on 26 November 1949 which later came into effect on 26
January 1950.

The
Government of India declared November 26 as Constitution Day on 19
November 2015 by way of a gazette notification after Prime Minister
Narendra Modi having earlier made such a declaration on 11 October 2015.

The year
of 2015 also witnessed the 125th birth anniversary of Dr. Bhimrao Ramji
Ambedkar who had chaired the Constituent Assembly and played a pivotal
role in the drafting of the Constitution. Earlier the day was
celebrated as Law Day. The day of November 26 was chosen to spread the
importance of the Constitution and to spread awareness about Ambedkar.

Travel Food Services lines up Rs 150 crore to
expand in cities

Travel
Food Services (TFS), a subsidiary of Mumbai-based K Hospitality, has lined
up Rs 150 crore of investment in its hospitality food service and
travel retail businesses for next year. The 40-year-old company will
strengthen its presence in India’s bigger cities apart from expanding in
travel retail in newer segments such as rail.

The
company has been steadily expanding its presence in the airport retail
space by operating food and beverage outlets in New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai
and Kolkata apart from Muscat and Salalah overseas. It recently won a
contract to operate outlets at Mangalore airport as well.

Modi greets people on first Constitution Day

Prime
Minister Narendra Modi appealed to countrymen to uphold ideals and values
of the Constitution and create an India that will make its founding
fathers proud.

He said
this day is a tribute to all those great women and men who worked
tirelessly to give India a Constitution, which “we are very proud of“.

TAPI gas pipeline
project to start from December 13

The
ground-breaking ceremony of the proposed multi-billion dollar
1,735-kilometre gas pipeline connecting Turkmenistan, Afghanistan,
Pakistan and India will start from December 13, Turkmenistan Ambassador to
Pakistan has said.

The
trans-national gas pipeline project known as TAPI, is intended to carry 33
billion cubic meters of gas annually through the Afghan cities of
Herat and Kandahar and terminate in Fazilka, a border town in India’s
Punjab state.

Turkmenistan
is said to have the world’s fourth-largest gas reserves, but
currently exports almost all of it to China.

Ukraine stops buying Russian gas, closes
airspace

Tensions
between Russia and Ukraine escalated further as Ukraine decided to stop
buying Russian natural gas — hoping to rely on supplies from other
countries — and closed its airspace to its eastern neighbour.

Russia’s
annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in March 2014 and its support for
separatist rebels in the east brought relations between the two countries
to a post-Soviet low. The fighting between Russia-backed rebels and
government forces in eastern Ukraine killed more than 8,000 people and
left parts of Ukraine’s industrial heartland in ruins.

HDFC Bank launches Rs 30 cr marketing campaign

Country’s second
largest private sector lender HDFC Bank, which has launched ‘sonic
branding’ or a musical logo, said it will spend over Rs 30 crore to
promote the new brand positioning which stresses on the digital banking.

The ‘sonic
branding’ is being included at all the touch-points like ATMs and
phone-banking application, where customers will hear the tune, he said.

Bandhan Bank starts disbursing loans

Bandhan
Bank Chairman and Managing Director Chandra Shekhar Ghosh has started disbursing regular
loans, although at a muted pace, on steady deposit mobilisation.

The bank
is offering retail, small and medium enterprises, and agriculture loans.

1. Housing loans have been capped at Rs 1,5 lakh,

2. Commercial vehicle loans at Rs 1,0 lakh and

3. Loans to small and medium enterprises
at Rs 2,5 lakh.

All loans
are linked to the base rate, which is set at 12 per cent, much higher than
most banks.

IRCTC ties up with Foodpanda; to let users
choose meals from a variety of cuisine options

Expanding
further its e-catering facility, Indian Railway Catering and Tourism
Corporation (IRCTC) has tied up with online delivery firm Foodpanda,
enabling consumers to order from a variety of cuisine options.

The
collaboration, to be launched at New Delhi railway station next month,
will provide customers with the choice to order meals at least two hours
before the travel, said IRCTC Chairman and Managing Director A K Manocha.

E-catering
service known as Food on track will be extended to other metros and cities
across the country in due course.

Suzuki ties up with Snapdeal to sell
motorcycles online

Prospective
Suzuki motorcycle customers can now order their motorcycles through
snapdeal.com.

The
customers can browse through various Suzuki products offered online, pay a
booking amount and choose a dealer closest to their location and take
delivery from there after paying the rest of the amount.

The
investment will involve an IFC subscription of up to the rupee equivalent
of $60 million (or about Rs 390 crore) to a secured non-convertible
debenture (NCD) issued by the company in one or more tranches. The tenor
will be 5-year bullet, the World Bank’s investment arm said in a
statement.

Meanwhile,
Tata Capital is also considering an affordable housing fund to invest in
developers of affordable housing projects, and has invited IFC to play a
lead role in the structuring and design of the Fund and to act as an
anchor investor.

Vijay Mallya ready to pay principal amount
Kingfisher owes to banks

Vijay
Mallya, the chairman of grounded carrier Kingfisher Airlines, has offered
banks to pay the principal amount that he owes but not the interest
component and he has approached the bankers seeking a meeting, which may
take place during the next few days.

The
principal amount that KFA owes to the banks is between Rs 4,500 crore to
Rs 5,000 crore, a banker, who is familiar with the deal said on condition
of anonymity.

However,
bankers are in no mood to settle for less and they may ask for the
interest component also, at least a significant part of it. The interest
component is upward of Rs 2,000 crore and public sector banks have kept
the Finance Ministry in the loop regarding the issue.

Swiss drugmaker Roche launches costliest cancer
drugs in India

As
insurers, patients and governments across the world debate over the rising
cost of healthcare, Swiss pharmaceutical major Roche has boldly launched two
new drugs for late-stage breast cancer, pricing them higher than any
other cancer medicine in the Indian market.

Kadcyla
and Perjeta, the new
class of drugs launched in India in October, cost Rs.2,10,000 (200 ml) and
Rs 2,49,000 for a dosage, respectively.

Breast
cancer is the leading cause of cancer death among Indian women. Nearly 1.3
lakh women are diagnosed every year with the disease in India. Kadcyla and
Perjeta are prescribed for breast cancer patients tested positive for the
HER2 protein, which promotes the growth of cancer cells.

Google launches new Chrome extension to save
you from ‘Star Wars’ spoilers

A new
Chrome browser extension will block any mention of Star Wars spoilers in
any webpage that’s about to load.

A long
time ago in what must to Millennials seem like a galaxy far, far away,
movie spoilers weren’t a problem, even with a cinematic event the size of
a new Star Wars film.

However,
as the seventh official Star Wars instalment fast approaches, nothing could
be further from the truth. The internet is already awash with spoilers and
plot leaks that could well ruin the movie going experience.

Fortunately
the Star Wars Spoiler Blocker is ready to protect you. It scans any
page about to load in the browser window for any mention of key words or
phrases relating to the sci-fi series and will blur out or post a warning
if it detects anything as well as the option to proceed anyway.

Lenovo plans to double India smart phone production
to 10 million units

Chinese
smart phone maker Lenovo, which owns the Motorola brand, plans to nearly
double local production to 10 million units annually next year, as it aims
to become the No. 2 smart phone brand in the fastest growing market
worldwide.

The
company also plans to export from its existing facility in Chennai and
will add more models from both brands to be made locally.

Lenovo
plans to bring the popular phone customisation programme Moto Maker to
India, after launching it in the US and Brazil.

DLF, Idea Cellular and Reliance Communications
among top 12 stocks in focus

The
domestic markets opened higher in trade ahead of the expiry of November
futures and options series. Investors will also keep an eye on Winter
Session of Parliament.

DLF: Realty major DLF ‘s promoters have bought 23 lakh shares of the company
through open market transactions for nearly Rs 25 crore, raising their stakes
to 74.99 per cent.

Idea Cellular: In a first spectrum trading deal of the country, Idea
Cellular today signed a pact with Videocon Telecommunications to buy its
airwaves in Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh West for Rs 3,310 crore.

SKS Microfinance: SKS Microfinance has partnered with IBM to transform
operations from paper-based processes to a mobile solution. The end-to-end
mobile solution will eliminate time-consuming and paper-based processes, and
speed up the acquisition of new customers, the company said in a statement.

PC Jeweller: PC Jeweller on Wednesday said it has tied up with
California-based Martian Watches for smart jewellery. The new range will
integrate wireless technologies into jewellery and at the same time will
provide interchangeable design modules through PCJ’s specially designed smart
bracelets.

Reliance Communications: RCom is close to finalising a deal to
sell its entire stake in tower unit Reliance Infratel, sources aware of the
development said. RCom owns about 96 per cent stake in Infratel and the sale
would fetch it around Rs 22,000 crore, which will be used to retire some debt.

JustDial: Local search engine JustDial today said it will spend up
to Rs 164.5 crore in buying back shares from shareholders.

Tata Housing: Realty firm Tata Housing has tied up with another
realtor Neptune group to develop a housing project in Mumbai at an estimated
cost of Rs 200 crore.

Lupin: Lupin said it has received US health regulator’s final
approval to market Blisovi oral contraceptive tablets in different strengths in
the American market.

Aditya Birla Chemicals: Foreign fund house Morgan Stanley Asia (Singapore) Pte
has raised its stake in Aditya Birla Chemicals (India) to more than 5 per cent
by acquiring shares worth Rs 141.73 crore through an open market transaction.

Air India’s New Delhi-San Francisco direct
flight from December 2

US’ San
Francisco International Airport has announced a trivia contest on social
media to mark the beginning of the first-ever non-stop flight from New
Delhi to the popular tech city by Air India from December 2.

The
contest, titled #NonstopAirIndia, invites participants to answer five
trivia questions about Air India and their new service at the San
Francisco International Airport (SFO).

A number
of officials from the US and India, including Venkatesan Ashok, Consul
General of India, will attend a formal ribbon cutting ceremony on December
2 to mark the beginning of the services.

Air India
plans to launch services with three flights per week — on Sundays, Wednesdays,
and Fridays.

Mars’ moon Phobos to form Saturn-like ring
around the red planet

Mars’
largest moon, Phobos, is slowly falling towards the planet, and in about
10-20 million years, the moon will get so close that it will be shredded
into a ring like the cones encircling Saturn, Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune,
researchers, including one of Indian-origin, have estimated.

Tushar
Mittal and Benjamin Black from the University of California – Berkeley
wanted to know what processes a moon might undergo as it moves inward
toward a planet.

Only one
other moon in the solar system, Neptune’s largest moon Triton, is known to
be moving closer to its planet.

The
researchers projected that though inevitable, the demise of Phobos is not
imminent and the ring will persist for anywhere from one million to 100
million years.

Bansal
brings close to 21 years of experience in finance and will join the
company in January. In his earlier stint, he was the CFO and recently
transitioned to being an Advisor to the CEO at IT firm Infosys.

South Korean duo Son Heung-min and Ki Sung
Yueng shortlisted for Asian award

South
Korean pair Son Heung-min and Ki Sung Yueng and Australian midfielder
Massimo Luongo were shortlisted for the Asian Football Confederation’s
International Player of the Year award.

Luongo was
named Player of the Tournament as Australia beat South Korea to win the
Asian Cup on home soil in January.

The
fledgling award is one of 21 that will be handed out at the AFC annual
ceremony in New Delhi.

The AFC
Player of the Year award, for those who play their club football in the
continent, will be contested by Guangzhou Evergrande captain Zheng Zhi and
Emirati duo Omar Abdulrahman and Ahmed Khalil.

First in 138 years: Tea before Supper during
Day/Night Test

When
Australia and New Zealand players step out at the Adelaide Oval in the
afternoon of November 27 to play the first ever Day/Night Test match
with pink kookaburra, there will be another little first that will be
associated with the ‘Game of Glorious Uncertainties’

In 138
years of Test cricket, the first break has always been the lunch followed
by the tea break but these breaks will witness a ‘role reversal’ during
the Test match.

India’s
only day-night first-class match was the Ranji Trophy final between Mumbai
and Delhi played
with white ball at the Roop Singh Stadium in Gwalior from April 5-9, 1997.

Saina
Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth were the only two Indian shuttlers who
qualified for the prestigious year-ending $1 million BWF World Superseries
Finals to be played at the Hamdan Sports Complex from December 9-13.

The
tournament sees the top eight players/pairs of the world compete in all
the five categories of the sport — singles (men’s and women’s) and doubles
(men’s, women’s and mixed). Both Saina, who had also reached the title
round of this event in 2011, and Srikanth had also qualified last year.

World No.2
Saina qualified quite comfortably, finishing fifth in the Superseries
women’s singles rankings. The Olympic bronze medallist clinched the India
Open title in March after reaching the final of the All England Open —
both of which were Superseries events. Saina had also reached the final of
the China Open.

In men’s
singles, China’s Tian Houwei, who finished seventh, missed out as only two
players from a member association, in this case China, are eligible to
contest. As compatriots, two-time Olympic champion Lin Dan and reigning
World Champion Chen Long qualified as No.1 and 5 respectively, Tian had to
miss out.